ITV1's Champions League coverage draws fewer than 3 million

It was not ITV's fault that more English teams did not make it through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. But the broadcaster paid the price on Wednesday night with fewer than 3 million viewers for its coverage of the last 16 match between Marseille and Inter Milan. ITV1's Champions League Live attracted an average of 2.4 million viewers, a 10.9% share, between 7.30pm and 10pm on Wednesday. Live coverage of the match itself, which Marseille won 1-0 , averaged 2.7 million. The broadcaster would have expected at least double that – and probably a lot more besides – had an English team had been involved. But Manchester United and Manchester City were both knocked out with the two remaining English sides, Arsenal and Chelsea, seemingly on the verge of elimination . Manchester City's 4-0 Europa League win over Porto was live on ESPN, although the match, which kicked off at 5pm on Wednesday, does not appear to have troubled the top 20 best rating pay-TV programmes of the day. Manchester United's Europa League seond leg tie against Ajax is live on Channel 5 on Thursday night. ITV will take over from Channel 5 as the UK terrestrial broadcaster of Europa League matches next season , sharing rights with ESPN. ITV's Champions League woes added up to an easy win for a BBC1 lineup which included consumer affairs show Rip Off Britain, which attracted 5.2 million viewers (25.6%) between 7.30pm and 8pm, 4.9 million viewers (21.8%) for Waterloo Road between 8pm and 9pm, and 4.8 million viewers for MasterChef (20%) between 9pm and 10pm. Big body, medium ratings Channel 5's new documentary series Big Body Squad – which featured a 53-stone man's difficult journey home from hospital – had Channel 4's Daddy Daycare for breakfast. The first of a six-part series about the teams of carers who look after the growing number of obese people in Britain, Big Body Squad began with 1.6 million viewers, a 7% share between 8pm and 9pm on Wednesday. This was up 7% on the channel's slot average over the last three months and more than enough to see off Daddy Daycare, about men looking after their children, which had 1.1 million viewers (5%) at the same time on Channel 4. Only Summerwatch to go, then It began with Springwatch, it morphed into Autumnwatch, and now there's ... Winterwatch! Like the other wildlife extravaganzas, except broadcast during winter, the new BBC2 show began with 2.1 million viewers (8.9%) between 9pm and 10pm, including 104,000 viewers on BBC HD. It was a tough ask against Channel 4's One Born Every Minute, however, which had nearly twice as many viewers, 3.8 million, a 15.8% share. Roger and Val Get In Just In Time To Watch Ten O'Clock Live Three episodes into the second series of Channel 4's Ten O'Clock Live, the satirical show pulled in 1 million viewers across Channel 4 and Channel 4+1, a 5.8% share. It had the better of BBC2's sitcom Roger and Val Have Just Got In, starring Dawn French and Alfred Molina, which drew 900,000 viewers between 10pm and 10.30pm, including 47,000 viewers on BBC HD. All ratings are Barb overnight figures, including live, +1 (except for BBC and some other channels including Sky1) and same day timeshifted (recorded) viewing, but excluding on demand, or other – unless otherwise stated. Figures for BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 generally include ratings for their HD simulcast services, unless otherwise stated • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook .